Nobody wants their father blocking their road to love and yet Neville’s dad is doing just that. So what else is there to do but do away with the old man so that he and Vicky can be together. Just when it seems freedom is gained, one chain remains and that is the will that his father has left which states he must take over the family house should he want his inheritance. So they do just that and Vicky, who is not at all who she seems, is not content. She learns of the house’s sordid history and that Neville thinks it is haunted and she also takes another lover. Soon, Neville starts having visions, maybe, and not long after Vicky’s birthday party is attacked and left for dead. Vicky is quite happy as she will now get everything that was his and she will get to be with the man she has been seeing. As it is, Neville is still alive and he knows that something is up and when all is said and done, somebody will be held accountable.

Released in 1983, The Hereafter is a slowly-paced British affair, a horror movie without much horror which is a bit of a shame but given that it was shot on an apparent budget, they made do with what they had. What was present was a script where they tried to make it seem as if the house was haunted, though just telling the viewer the house is haunted is usually not quite enough, as well as some men in masks that were slightly disturbing. For a movie about a haunted house it would have been nice to see a few ghosts or at least something to really indicate that it was and aside from Neville seeing some creepy monster-man a couple of times, it failed to elicit anything other than curiosity from the audience, wondering what would happen should the creature actually do anything. As it is, said monster who was actually a man did do something to Neville specifically which is where things finally take a turn in the movie.

Again, there was little horror aside from a flashback scene that involved a woman getting raped and killed though none of it was actually shown along with a bit of blood towards the end. Vicky finally gets what has been coming for her and while all of that is well and good, it would have been nice to see the house or perhaps Neville’s dad come back and take some revenge on all of the players in this game but such as it is, it was not all bad. Some of the performances were a little on the amateur side and the dialogue could have been a little stronger. There could have been a bit more blood and obviously, more stuff to scare the pants off people and yet, everything else in the movie may not have completely entertained as much as one might have liked but it did keep one watching for there was just a small air of unpredictability around it. Starring Steven Longhurst, Catherine Rowlands and David Slater, they did what they could with the material and it was just enough to make this engaging enough to fill up an hour and a half of the day.

2 out of 5